


To Have and To Hold

by lecworthy



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, i have no idea if this is good i just cranked it out, post-dalen's closet, so i'm sorry if it's not, soft!!, they both got trauma!, why can i not write over 1000 words anymore :/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 13:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20583194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lecworthy/pseuds/lecworthy
Summary: Weddings always come with their own stress, especially when coupled with a targeted attack on bride and groom.Percy and Vex find comfort in each other after the fact, and somehow, that is enough.





	To Have and To Hold

**Author's Note:**

> thinkin about.......them
> 
> who else cried during the wedding because they love these two so much! i'm very iffy about the quality of this but wanted to post it anyway, your feedback is much appreciated <3 thank you for reading!

Drowning. Shallow breaths. He can’t see. Is he in a freezing river, his sister’s screams behind him? Or is he in the Raven Queen’s temple, treading through blood as he desperately searches for redemption? No, he is dressed nicely, and his hands are bound, and he can feel a bright presence beside him. He reaches up to scream, out of pain and fear and desperation, and yet nothing is happening and he is drowning and she is dying - 

Another shallow breath jolted Percival awake. He took a moment, as he often did, to sit up and process his surroundings. He lay in his chambers in Whitestone, his home. He was safe. As his breaths evened, a hand came to cup his cheek, and he turned.

“Are you alright, darling?” 

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

Vex’ahlia responded to his lie by kissing his other cheek. This was routine for them, that one would be woken in the night by whatever chose to haunt them, and they would then insist they were fine. It was not necessarily out of deception, but of instinct, to disregard their own pain. Nonetheless, the two would fall back asleep into each other’s arms, and the hauntings would cease for the night.

This time, however, neither of them moved. Vex lingered by his face, and Percy let her. At this distance, he noticed the redness around his wife’s eyes, still gazing at him.

“Have you slept at all, dear?” he asked, sitting up fully to look at her.

“Vesper doesn’t make it easy,” she laughed. 

Well, that was certainly true. Their already rocky nights had become even more restless in the past year. He glanced over to their daughter’s crib where she was sleeping soundly, and then back at his wife who had broken her gaze.

“I assume that the drowning doesn’t make it easy, either.”

“Well, yes, I could certainly do without that.” There was still a laugh in her voice, but it was empty. “Is that what woke you as well?”

“I’ve never been particularly fond of drowning, despite how many times I seem to experience it.”

This time she laughed genuinely, and she shifted to tuck into his arms, grasping him tightly. “We are a mess, aren’t we? What a lovely honeymoon, reliving our respective traumas.”

“Darling, I don’t think anything else would be quite as authentic.”

They lay still for awhile, safe in each other’s company. For a moment, he thought Vex had fallen asleep, until she whispered suddenly, “I died, Percival.”

He shifted to look at her as she continued. “I know that I’ve died before, several times, actually, but I just foolishly hoped that after Vecna and Pandemonium we could just rest. I had almost nothing to hold onto back then, but now I have you and Whitestone, and we have a daughter, and that bastard -”

“Vex’ahlia.” Percy clasped her hands with his and tilted his gaze. “It’s alright. You’re alright. Your hope is never foolish. Sometimes, vampire fucks simply just refuse to die with dignity, and that is hardly our fault.” He kissed her gently, as much for his own sake as for hers. “I’m glad you’re here now, as is Vesper. We are both better because of you.”

Vex smiled, and his heart lit up as she had with Pelor’s blessing. He still found himself in moments of disbelief that this was his future, one of love and hope and redemption, one he could never have foreseen.

“How did you feel, seeing him again?” she asked after an instant, not having to specify.

Percy sighed. He had pushed the image of Sylas from his mind only briefly, but it returned to him in an instant. The notion was no longer paralyzing, however. “I told him that I used to fear him, which is true, and that in death, he would bore me. I no longer look at him and see smoke and vengeance. I just see emptiness.” He shifted, smiling a bit. “Though you sunbeamed him in the ass, so that seems to no longer be a concern of mine.”

She pushed him playfully, and they fell back into one another silently. The only movement was the rhythmic rise and fall of their chests. Neither wanted to sleep just yet; both were content to rest in each other’s presence. After weeks of wedding planning, an eventful rehearsal dinner, and a ceremony full of family, each other’s presence was enough.

“Percy?” Vex said eventually, voice soft.

“Yes, dear?”

“If we have a third wedding, let’s make this one a private event, alright?”

“Deal.”


End file.
